(no subject)

> Physical Traits

• Despite looking scrawny at first glance, Erik is actually fairly fit and muscled, though it's more of the type of muscles a runner or parkour artist would get rather than the usual "body-building" sort of thing.
  
  
• However, despite being a healthy weight, he looks as if he's a bit underweight instead because of the neglect he went through while growing up. Essentially, deprivation set his "basic" body build lower than it should be, so while he is eating healthy and getting care in the party, Erik is permanently on the thinner side even so.
  
  
• He also has some scars under his clothing from the treatment he got growing up. The vikings in-game are very clearly based off the actual Norwegian vikings, and they had a nasty track record of abusing their slaves (at least physically, though the in-game ones are also clearly mentally abusive). As a result, Erik is a bit jumpy when it comes to his scars, and does get some aches when it rains, but isn't mentally harmed by them anymore thanks to the party's acceptance and care. The scars are scattered across his body, rather than focused on a specific area.
  

> Personality

• While he does come off very gruff at times, especially to strangers, he's a genuinely kind and sweet person. He worries over his friends, wants to take care of them, and will do whatever he needs to in order to do so. This includes sacrificing hismelf if necessary, such as the time he used himself to shield the Luminary from a cast spell, then demanded they leave him (now injured) behind so the Luminary could get to safety, even though it could have and likely would have resulted in his death (had he not been used as bait instead). Whoever he considers close to him, he'll do nearly everything for, and without a thought... and he's often very open about it, either not feeling shame or not caring what others think.
  
  
• This can result in him going too far, however. The feelings of wanting to be needed and wanting to protect those dear to him are understandable, and can even be good... but while these feelings are genuine to him, for Erik, they're also somewhat tainted as well. He suffers severe survivor's guilt thanks to accidentally "killing" his sister by giving her a cursed necklace, and while it has eased some thanks to the Luminary's help and his sister's rescue, it can rear its ugly head if he feels his "only survivor" status will crop up again. Such a thing, carried for so long, can't be cured so easily, after all, and Erik spent years thinking he made such a horrible sin that the sheer possibility of forgiveness perked his interest (and sent him to join with Roshan).
  
  
• Kind-hearted as he is, that doesn't mean he's quick to help people he doesn't need to, though. He might do everything for his friends or close companions, but he isn't willing to leap headlong into helping everyone he comes across -- unless one of his other party is helping them, anyway, in which case he usually does step in without much prompting. If any.
  
  
• Despite being a thief, Erik is far more generous than people give him credit for. For the people he actually likes, he tends to be willing to give or do whatever he needs to (for instance, giving up the orb that he strove so hard for to the Luminary without hesitation). He often doesn't even think about it, really, striding into danger beside his friends and sticking by them through thick and thin.
  
  
• He is referred to as "slightly nihilistic", which does manifest in him tending to believe the worst of people if something happens or they come off rather poorly. That said, while he's quick to jump to conclusions, he's just as quick to abandon them when presented with evidence that those conclusions are wrong, and does feel bad if he thinks poorly of someone who didn't actually cause him any trouble -- or outright helped him.
  
  
• While he tends to be fairly honest for a thief to his friends, he does still have some secrets he prefers to keep to himself. For the ones he absolutely won't talk about, he dodges bringing it up until asked directly, at which case he simply flat out states he doesn't want to talk about it. If he's hiding something for someone else's sake, he'll outright lie along with not bringing it up... unless someone asks him directly, in which case Erik will warn them that they won't like the answer, but consent to telling them it truthfully if they really want to know.
  
  
• Erik's body has a few nasty scars on it from his past, especially centering on his back. While the scars elsewhere seem like typical battle scars, the scars on his back look a little odd. To someone untrained, they just seem like normal, if very strangely placed ones... but those who have any idea of slavery punishments could easily recognize that's where they originate from.
  
  
• Erik randomly likes sitting backwards in chairs. No, there's no real reason for it. He just likes to.
  
  
• He can also get easily frustrated with people if he feels they aren't taking danger seriously enough. While Erik himself is relaxed, he's very alert and focused when it comes to making sure he and those he cares about are safe, so if the group is in trouble and people are fooling around, he can get snappish and mean, especially if he's already feeling negatively from exhaustion, heat, or other things. (Example: snapping at Veronica for focusing on the Sand National festival when he knew Hendrik would be after them at any moment and after being hot and tired from crossing the desert.)
  

> Combat

• Erik is left-handed, and as such, holds his strongest/primary dagger in his left hand. He holds another dagger in his right one as an off-hand weapon, preferring to dual wield.